Protesters who tried to disrupt completion of Mountain Valley pipeline to defend themselves in Virginia court. Climate activists who tried to disrupt the completion of a fossil-fuel pipeline through Appalachian forests will appear in court in Virginia on Tuesday to face serious criminal charges that they vehemently deny.
The Mountain Valley pipeline (MVP) was pushed through by the Biden administration in mid-2023 – overriding court orders, regulatory blocks and widespread opposition to the 300-mile (480km) fossil fuel project. Biden’s decision triggered a wave of non-violent protests and civil disobedience against the pipeline in Virginia and West Virginia as work crews rushed to finish construction of the pipeline through sensitive waterways and protected forests.
In one case, on 16 October 2023, a group of activists descended on Peters Mountain in Giles county with a banner that read “Respect existence or expect resistance”. They blasted music and one person chained themselves to an excavator with a sleeping dragon, while others sang protest songs and chanted “Doom to the pipeline”. The MVP excavator operator was able to exit and leave the area, according to the police report.
Over the next few weeks, a total of 10 activists were charged with conspiracy to defame the reputation of a business, a misdemeanor most commonly used in civil disputes, and two felonies: conspiracy to commit unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, known colloquially as the joyriding charge, and abduction of the MVP machine operator.
On Tuesday, two of the 10 will face trial for the misdemeanor conspiracy charge and a preliminary hearing for the felonies, which carry a maximum combined sentence of 16 years. “These are absurd charges meant to intimidate. I was exercising my right to free speech and protest and am not guilty of conspiracy or abduction or joyriding. The real conspiracy was how the pipeline got pushed through without judicial and environmental oversight,” said one of the accused.
“It is a slippery slope for the state to accuse ordinary people of a conspiracy charge used in corporate slander and malfeasance cases … I am willing to take the risk of jail time to shed light on that in open court.”. “The charges are bullshit and I’ve decided to face the state which is trying to silence any dissent – whether it be against pipelines, Cop City or the genocide in Palestine. We live in the heart of the imperial core, so we have to take action even if it comes at a personal cost,” said River, not their real name.
The remaining eight reached an agreement with prosecutors to be convicted of interfering with the property rights of another person, a misdemeanor. They will be given a suspended sentence with 50-100 hours community service, and must collectively pay almost $5,000 restitution to the county for police overtime.
“The justice system in the US is fundamentally corrupt, and people are punished by the process without ever getting to a guilty verdict. I need to move on and find employment, which has been impossible to do with these illegitimate felony charges hanging over my head, and that’s why like so many others I had to take a plea deal,” said Daisy, not their real name.
Almost 50 non-violent activists were arrested in multiple counties across Virginia and West Virginia during the final phase of pipeline construction, amid growing concern about the criminalization of environmental and climate protests across the US – and globally.
“These ludicrous charges are clearly designed to scare off any resistance to the MVP and future fossil-fuel infrastructure. This continues a long pattern of multibillion-dollar fossil-fuel companies conspiring with the legal system to suppress dissent throughout history and across the world today,” said a spokesperson for Appalachians Against Pipelines, a direct action movement.
In a separate action on 29 January 2024, Madeline Ffitch attached herself to drilling equipment in the Jefferson national forest, at the top of Peters Mountain, with a banner that read “Mountain moms say no to MVP”. She was extracted after about eight hours, and was charged with five misdemeanors and one felony – the joyriding charge, which carries up to five years.
Ffitch has agreed with prosecutors to be convicted of two obstruction, interference with property rights of another and a trespass misdemeanor and will have to serve 150 hours community service. She refused to agree to pay $15,000 in restitution to the police, and will argue that in court on Tuesday.
“They wanted to send me to prison for standing up for clean water and air for our region, and fighting to end the climate chaos. It sucks to take a plea deal, but I am a single mom of two children,” said Ffitch. “Extreme weather is impacting everyone. It doesn’t matter who you vote for. Yet politicians are doing backroom deals with corporations to sell out the people. Climate change is an existential crisis.”.
In another incident on 3 March 2024, a protester who goes by the name Ricky Bobby climbed into the pipeline using a harness and rope on the side of a mountain, where she remained for 36 hours. She faces four misdemeanor charges on Tuesday after declining a plea deal that required paying restitution to the police, and could go to jail if found guilty.
